Big East Basketball Power Rankings and Weekend Outlook – February 12

It was another week of big battles in the Big East. Right now it’s clear that the league has a handful of the best teams in the country. In this week’s NCAA tournament selection practice exercise Syracuse and Villanova were one seeds while Georgetown and West Virginia were both two seeds. Pittsburgh is pretty close to that top group, but below that level their eight teams that are squarely on the bubble. Sports Illustrated addresses the Big East bubble teams in this weeks issue, as does the CollegeHoops.net blog. These next few weeks should be a lot of fun. Here are my updated power rankings:

Main EventLouisville @ Syracuse, Sunday, 1:00 PM
A week ago this looked like it may be a good matchup. Then Louisville got trounced by St. John’s as rumors swirled about Rick Pitino lobbying for the Nets job. Meanwhile Syracuse had two nice wins, one at Cincinnati by 17, and one in a rivalry game in the Dome against UConn. Louisville is desparate for a good win, but it won’t come Sunday afternoon, as the very unselfish Orange beat back the Cardinals with Wes Johnson and Andy Rautins getting back on track.

Best MatchupSouth Florida @ Marquette, Saturday, 8:30 PM
This is a key battle between two solid teams in the big middle group. Interestingly, while Marquette’s record is just above .500 in conference play, they have the third best scoring margin in the league. They battled through a very difficult early conference schedule and have won four in a row. South Florida cooled off a little bit this past week, losing at Notre Dame. But “do everything” guard Dominique Jones is always a threat to go off and lead the Bulls to a win. I expect that the Golden Eagles’ always solid play will get them the W in this game.

Upset AlertSt. John’s @ Notre Dame, Sunday, 7:30 PM
The Red Storm are coming off an impressive home win over Louisville while the Irish will be looking to rebound from a tough three point loss at Seton Hall. Notre Dame had a couple of open looks from three point range at the end of that game but could not put the ball in the basket. Luke Harangody is out for this one and that is a big blow to the Irish. While they do have other guys that can score, their offense relies so heavily on him that they are likely to struggle. That may be the only weakness St. John’s needs to get the road win.

Rest of the Slate (in chronological order)Cincinnati @ Connecticut, Saturday, 12:00 PM
The Bearcats got the home 71-69 win in the first matchup between these teams. It was the Big East opener for both schools and Connecticut was still ranked #10 at the time. A lot has happened since then. Cincinnati is a hard team to read. That may be because they rely so heavily on freshman Lance Stephenson. This will be Huskies’ coach Jim Calhoun’s first game back from medical leave. UConn played inspired ball in the second half against Syracuse. I expect that to continue and the Huskies to get the win.

Providence @ Villanova, Saturday, 2:00 PM
Always giving a strong effort, Providence is not a team to sleep on. They just don’t have the talent to win in the brutal Big East. They’ve lost four in a row after jumping out to a 4-4 start in league play. Villanova is one of the best teams in the country and is coming off a superb win at West Virginia. They should safely win this one as well.

DePaul @ Seton Hall, Sunday, 12:00 PM
After pulling off the upset win over Marquette, DePaul has lost five in a row. Seton Hall is coming off a tough win over Notre Dame and still has hopes for a big run and an NCAA tournament birth. The enigmatic Jeremy Hazell had a stellar game against the Irish with 35 points on 12 of 16 shooting after being benched in an embarassing loss to Pittsburgh. The Pirates should win big.

Georgetown@ Rutgers, Sunday, 4:00 PM
In the first meeting between these programs the Hoyas blew out the Scarlet Knights in D.C. 88-63. It was over by the 10-minute mark. Georgetown had two excellent wins this week and certainly won’t fall to Rutgers, who is coming back down to earth after two upset wins a couple of weeks ago.